Mich. janitor offered students $1 to beat up 4th grader

A Michigan school janitor is looking for work after trying to enlist two fourth-graders to beat up a 9-year-old classmate who swore at her.

The unidentified contract employee was fired last week by the Grand Rapids school district after admitting she offered the pair $1 to "rough up" the boy at Campus Elementary, district spokesman John Helmholdt told the Grand Rapids Press. The student's disparaging remarks included a "curse word and unflattering comments."

The attack never occurred, Helmholdt said.

The Oct. 7 threat came during lunch and was overhead by students and a teacher, who notified the principal. The worker, who was employed by West Michigan Janitorial Service, had worked for the district for a year and had passed a criminal background check.

"There are no words to describe it," Helmholdt told the New York Daily News. "This is one of those things that make you scratch your head and wonder how any individual could think this was a good idea."

He said the unidentified boy would likely have been suspended had the janitor reported him.

The boy's mother alleges her son was bullied and is considering legal action.

"To think that there's an adult that can be so like twisted to sit there and watch a little boy ... get beat up and get enjoyment out of it," she told WOOD-TV.